On November 1st we change the clocks back to Daylight Standard Time. It is an annual reminder of the natural process that results in less daylight in the coming few months. We sometimes forget how much sunlight plays a part in our overall health. Aside from the manufacturing of vitamin D, there are other aspects to the light spectrum that researchers are just beginning to understand and this mainly centers on melatonin production.
What is Melatonin?
Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland which is located at the base of the brain. It is secreted during the night time hours and has a great impact on our ability to sleep. Diminishing light that falls onto the eye’s retina then stimulates the pituitary to message the pineal to produce melatonin. It also acts as an antioxidant and research is now showing that it may be instrumental in helping depression, and also reducing tumors. keep reading
Yeasts and molds One of the most common problems I see in practice is associated with the overgrowth of yeast. Many physicians over the past several decades have linked several forms of yeast to many common health issues. One common yeast is Candida Albicans. However there are several others and they can cause symptoms such as mood disorders, concentration problems, fatigue, headaches, depression, back pain, digestive problems like bloating and irritable bowel, persistent coughs, itchiness and skin problems.
Perhaps the first doctor to talk about yeast and its associated problems was Dr. William Crook and his book, The Yeast Connection, published in 1986. Traditional medicine has long relegated yeast problems to those with severely compromised immune systems and not for those people with functional chronic health issues. It appears that this is one more example of traditional medicine failing to see the immune stress that is appearing all the more frequently in our fast paced, toxic, and overstressed society.
Where does yeast come from?
Yeast that are potentially dangerous live within our guts in small amounts and never present a problem unless we live a lifestyle that allows it to reproduce into numbers that cause us harm. The most common causes are from: <keep reading
AFish Story
I've always chosen to eat wild fish over farmed raised fish. I had read that farmed fish were raised in overcrowded pens, fed antibiotics and in the case of Atlantic Salmon, given artificial dyes to give this fish its distinctive coloring. In some cases this is true but my opinion on farmed fishing has changed after reading an article in Outside Magazine by Tim Zimmermann. The article gives some grim statistics about the amount of fish the world is harvesting, but also how improved practices in aquaculture, and labeling can help restore wild populations to sustainable numbers.
Some Disturbing Fish Facts
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 90% of wild marine fish stocks are either fully exploited or overexploited due to a worldwide 4.7 million vessel fishing fleet. Unfortunately many fleets use practices that include trawling nets and longlines: lines that stretch 40 miles with a baited hook every three feet. Unfortunately this efficient method of catching fish also bycatch as many as 150,000 sea turtles, and tens of thousands of whales, sharks, and dolphins. Trolling only drops a few lines behind a boat and therefore reducing bycatch ... keep reading
How You Can Use New Information to Stay Healthy?
Have you heard of the condition Metabolic Syndrome? Sometimes it's referred to as Syndrome X. Some experts talk about it as the #1 public health issue in the U.S. The estimates are that approximately 1/3 of the population of the U.S. has it!
What is Metabolic Syndrome?
Metabolic syndrome is a combination of findings that together point to a higher risk for many of the serious health issues that we hear about on a daily basis. You or someone you know has it if the 3 out of the following 5 risk factors are met.
1. abdominal obesity, with a waist measurement greater than a hip measurement.
2. triglyceride levels over 150
3. fasting glucose over 110
4. H.D.L. (the protective cholesterol), less than 40 for men and less than 50 for women
5. elevated blood pressure over 135/80
*(Personally, I feel that triglyceride levels and fasting blood glucose should be less than 100)
The criteria above has been eloquently described as Diabesity by Dr. Francine Kaufman M.D., in her book by the same name. She writes, "Diabesity describes the obesity-diabetes epidemic where our ancient genes and our modern environment have collided. " She goes on to say that "metabolic syndrome imperils human existence as we know it." Keep Reading
How do we define it? It is hard to measure because what could be for one person a very stressful situation, for another the same situation could be a fun experience. It depends on the person and each of us need to gauge what we can handle. The same could be true for physical activity or the foods we consume. Some people can't handle as much physical stress than others or need a diet that is more restrictive than others.
The first researcher of stress
In 1936 Hans Selye, a Hungarian endocrinologist while working in Canada made a ground breaking discovery that earned him recognition with his work on stress and its affect on health. His experiments, led him to the idea that in some cases, disease was not caused by a microbe. Instead his experiments showed that various noxious stimuli either of emotional, physical or chemical origin could disrupt homeostasis and create conditions of disease in the body. This began when he saw the same reactions taking place in mice no matter what noxious substance were injected into their bodies. The common result to this stress, was adrenal hypertrophy, thymus gland atrophy, along with gastric and duodenal ulcers. Keep Reading
Epigenetics
The root word Epi means above, so epigenetics means above genetics. Alternative medicine as adopted this word to describe living above our genetically predetermined DNA profile. Some people have stronger genetic profiles than others and if you are not blessed with a strong constitution you might wonder “what can I do to improve my genetics?”
Methylation
This is one of several pathways of detoxification that occurs a billion times per second in our bodies. It occurs in every cell and in every organ. keep reading
The Original Research was Flawed
For decades fat has been blamed for many of our health woes. This thinking was the result of Dr. Ancel Keys and his study of seven countries diets finding "that those with lower saturated fat intake, had lower levels of heart disease". The American Heart Association embraced his recommendations and the consequence was a wave of low fat messages and products like skim milk, margarine, and the condemnation of the egg.
It has taken researchers decades to show that Keys' research was flawed. For instance he left out countries such as West Germany, and France that had high fat diets but low rates of heart disease. Additionally, Keys' study began after WW II, when the island of Crete which he highlighted, was working hard to rebuild from German occupation. Another Greek Island, Corfu ate far less saturated fat than Crete but had much higher rates of heart disease. Keep Reading
We all know of someone who had difficulties and injuries as they aged. Many of these could have been prevented.
Osteoporosis is not a normal consequence of aging. It is the end result of a chronic imbalance of nutrients, lack of physical activity, and disruption of hormones and neurotransmitters from the chronic overexposure of chemicals in our food, water, air, and modern way of life. It is estimated that there are 10 million Americans diagnosed with osteoporosis and an estimated 30-50% of women and 15-30% of men will sustain an osteoporosis related fracture in their lifetime. The Pharmaceutical industry does offer drugs for this problem, but they do have serious side effects and in my opinion a more comprehensive and holistic approach should be given greater consideration. Keep Reading
Recently, a patient was talking to me about jello. I asked her if she knew that jello (gelatin) was a collagen product made from the skin, connective tissue and bones of animals. When I mentioned that some of the animals might not be the healthiest, she responded with disgust and surprise, "I didn't know that!" She then told me that she would no longer eat jello.
There are many statistics and facts that do not make the prime time news shows or, if they do, do not get the attention they should. When I learn this information it strikes me the same way as it does my patients: "I didn't know that!" This is why I started this blog... Keep Reading ....
The use of antibiotics in livestock is only one small part of how we are affected by this industry. According to a paper published in 1996, there are approximately 1.3 billion cattle on earth at any one time. They exist "artificially" in these vast numbers to satisfy the excessive human demand for their meat and byproducts. It takes an average of 2,500 gallons of water to produce a single pound of meat. According to Newsweek magazine, "the water that goes into a 1,000 pound steer could float a destroyer." In contrast, it takes only 25 gallons of water to produce one pound of wheat. Keep Reading...
